


That Guy from the Elevator

by cephalopod_groupie



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Texting, Trapped In Elevator, pinkie prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-18
Updated: 2014-12-18
Packaged: 2018-03-02 00:54:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2793833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cephalopod_groupie/pseuds/cephalopod_groupie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU of the day: Hermann gets stuck in the lift and he gets rather annoyed at the inconvenience. Luckily he's stuck on Newt's floor and when Newt notices this strangely attractive guy trapped in his apartment's elevator he takes it upon himself to somehow entertain him. Like imagine them using their phones and pressing the screen right up to the glass for the other to read as a way of talking. - pinkieblues</p><p>[Not totally sure where I'm going with this yet. Please stand by.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Guy from the Elevator

Hermann hoped it would be an easy day now that he was settled into his new flat. But it wasn’t going to be. The glass lift whirred down smoothly until there was a great clunk and a sudden stop. Hermann’s face fell. He leant hard on his cane and rubbed his eyes. Then he tried to think of the most civilized way to get help. The first half-hearted attempts began with a mild “uh,” _cough_ , “excuse me” but after several minutes Hermann’s short fuse was blown and he started banging on the glass. Finally someone, a dark-haired man with glasses walked up to the elevator doors. Hermann stopped banging immediately, dumbstruck.  _"By jove,"_  he thought as the man smiled at him. 

"I’ll call maintenance!" he yelled. Hermann cupped a hand around his ear and shook his head.

"I can’t hear you!" The man could hear nothing but muffled yelling and nodded, giving him the thumbs up and turning away. He had dialed and was waiting for an answer. He watched him listen for a minute. Hermann could see him mouth "shit!"

"What?!" The man slumped his shoulders and shook his head. 

"They’re across town working on another elevator! They–wait, hold on!" He typed into his phone for a minute and held it up to the doors. 

_The guys who do maintenance for this building are across town. They’ve got like 6 other stops before they get here. Could be hours._

The man watched Hermann as he squinted at the screen through his old-fashioned glasses. Aside from the unadventurous clothes this dude was kinda hot, in a boney sorta way. Nice sharp jawline, hot damn. The elevator was stuck halfway so Hermann’s head was at the middle of the man’s chest. Hermann threw up his hands and stomped to the other side of the small elevator. He had a cane. And a nice ass.

Hermann took his phone from his pocket and typed something furiously and held it up the glass. 

_Can’t you tell them it’s an emergency!_

_I did that. Other people are stuck in elevators too._

Hermann stood there like a little kid forced to go shopping with his parents.

_What’s your name?_

_Hermann._

_Hi! I’m Newt!_

_Your parents named you after an amphibian._

"Oh thanks, smartass!" 

_It’s short for Newton, man. Rude._

_Sorry. I’m quite put out by the circumstances._

Newton almost smiled but clenched his teeth and pulled up a quiz app and held it up to the glass.

_I’m not exactly a game sort of person._

"I’m not surprised, dude."

_What is the origin of the word ‘newt’?_

Hermann rolled his eyes. “I said I was sorry.” Newton smiled because he could probably guess what he was saying. He made a gesture that said “get on with it.” Hermann typed.

_Old English._

_Correct. Mostly. Also Middle English. Juncture loss. You get half a point._

"OK, next one."

_What family are newts classified in?_

_Same as salamanders, I imagine._

_Not bad! Salamandridae. So, half a point._

This went on for some time, punctuated by Hermann sitting down for a few minutes at a time. Hermann: 42, App Quiz: 94

_What do newt’s eat?_

_More than I do, at present._

_Sorry dude, yeah. Did you even eat breakfast._

_A light one. I planned to go out for lunch._

_Shame the doors aren’t stuck open a little so I could slip you a piece of toast. Hey! You want me to try and break in?_

Hermann waved his arms wildly, shaking his head. Newt could see that he was yelling.

_You know, this is ridiculous. We could have been texting this entire time._

_I’m not sharing my number with a perfect stranger._

"Hey! I’m not some creep!" He yelled as he typed the very words and angrily held up his phone to the glass, nearly cracking the screen.

_Still a stranger._

_A stranger who’s been keeping you from losing your mind for the last 5 hours?_

_It’s not been 5 hours._

_4 and a half, Jesus. Who’s counting._

_I am. I’m a mathematician._

_Cool! I should have given you the math quiz instead._ _Come on, give me your digits. We live in the same building. And it’s not like this is a dump, it’s a pretty awesome area. Lotta nice, respectable people. Me included._

Hermann softened but pretended not too.

_Fine. Here._

Newton typed in the numbers so fast he nearly dropped the phone. He sat down and leaned up against the glass. Hermann sat down too.

_This is great! We can communicate faster. I’m a biologist. That’s why I gave you the newt quiz. I created that app. ;) - Dr. Newton Geiszler_

_Doctor I see. Do you teach around here?_

_Yeah, I used to be at the university but now I teach @ the highschool. I needed a change of pace._

_I just transfered to the U. Mathematics department._

_Gotta love the short commute._

_I’ll just remember to take the stairs._ They laughed, imagining what the other sounded like. 

_We could carpool? I could drop you off maybe._

_I don’t intend to rely on other people._

_K, the offer stands if you change your mind._

_Thank you._ Newton was itching to type something. Come on, come on, think of something. Um.

 _So, u want 2 get dinner tonight when you get out of there?_ There was a pause and Newton looked down to see Hermann was staring at his phone. Then he began to type and Newton looked away in case he could see.

 _That would be lovely._ Lovely? Holy shit. What grown man says lovely? What the hell does he even sound like if he’s this formal in a text. 

_Great! There’s this awesome Chinese joint a couple blocks down._

_'Joint' implies a tacky and unclean establishment._ Newton looked down and Hermann looked back up at him with a suspicious look on his face and one eyebrow raised. “Seriously?”

_U know, u remind me of my pet salamander. The way he looks at me when I don’t give him the kind of insect he wants. Honestly, it’s a very clean, swanky place. I know the staff. Everything’s totally cool._

_I’ll have to take your word for it._

"Hey! Maintenance is here!" After much drilling and wiring and prying, they got the lift going again and it went down smoothly to the lobby. Newton plummeted down the stairs to catch it. Hermann had already stepped out of the doors when Newton whipped around the corner, short of breath. 

"You needn’t have rushed." Oh great. Just great. His voice is a combination of velvet and sandpaper. Or was it a purr? Whatever. He was in trouble. 

"You ok?" 

"Fine. I just need to freshen up," Hermann said, pointing upwards to indicate his flat, "But I’m not getting in the blasted elevator again. Would you mind?" Newton got the drift and blushed.

"Sure," he said. He let Hermann take his arm as they reached the bottom on stairs. "I thought you didn’t want to rely on other people?"

"I do sometimes make exceptions." Hermann looked at him for a second and turned away. Newton was definitely blushing. When they reached Hermann’s door, Newt leaned on the doorframe while Hermann used the toilet and washed his face.

"Can I just," Newt said, gesturing to the bathroom.

"Of course."

"Glad I didn’t have a cup of tea with my breakfast, then I would’ve been very sorry indeed." Newton’s laugh was muffled by the door.

When they got out onto the street, Newton attempted to hail them a taxi. It had been raining and the air was heavy and full of energy. 

"Oh wait! we didn’t even shake hands yet."

"So we didn’t." Hermann reached out and they shook hands firmly. 

"Come on, let’s get you some dinner," Newton said, not even bothering to fight his grin.  

**Author's Note:**

> [Original post.](http://missanthropicprinciple.tumblr.com/post/98337140263/au-of-the-day-hermann-gets-stuck-in-the-lift-and) 


End file.
